Study: Marin County named California's healthiest county

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS | March 30, 2011

LOS ANGELES — Marin County has been named the healthiest county in California for the second year in a row, according to a study released Wednesday.

The rankings, which were released by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found that county residents have lower rates of smoking, adult obesity, teen birth — though the county could stand to improve its rate of binge drinking.

About 24 percent of Marin adults reported binge drinking — consuming more than 4 drinks for women or 5 drinks for men — once in the last 30 days. The state average is 17 percent.

For the most part, coastal counties from Sonoma to San Diego fared better than inland areas and the rural northern counties of California.

Trinity County was ranked last in the report; other unhealthy California counties include Del Norte, Madera, San Bernardino and Kern.

The rankings were based on the latest data available for each county, and are part of a larger national comparison of county-by-county health statistics.

Researchers compared various types of data, including mortality rate of those who die before age 75, social and economic factors, clinical care and health behaviors, such as smoking.

Across the nation, unhealthy counties typically also have significantly lower high school graduation rates, twice as many children in poverty, much fewer grocery stores or farmers' markets and significantly higher rates of unemployment.